Consumer Reports Checks Out Lip Plumpers

This is direct from Consumer Reports November, 2007.  If you're running out to buy a lip plumper read this first.  You might change your mind.

Claim Check.  Do lip plumpers have pucker power?

The claim:  Some products say they deliver "an at-home answer to lip-enhancing injections"; make lips look up to 30 percent plumper; or produce "wickedly plump lips" or "perfectly plumped lips" or.... Well, you get the idea:  At least a small part of the user's anatomy will look like Angelina Jolie.  It's not always clear what ingredients are supposed to cause plumping.  A couple of the products cite spheres of collagen.

The Check.  Twelve female staff members tried six products: 

• Anew Clinical Plump & Smooth Lip System (Avon)
• Full Potential Lips Plump & Shine (Clinique)
• DuWop Lip Venom 2nd Skin
• Lip Fusion Lip Plump
• Lip Inflation Extreme (Sally Hanson)
• Wet n Wild MegaPlump Lip Gloss

The products cost anywhere from $3.60 to $36.  The women assessed their lips immediately after application, one hour after, and four hours after.  Before and after photos were also taken and were examined by trained sensory panelists.

Consumer Reports Conclusion.  Kiss these products goodbye.  Some occasionally caused lips to bulge very slightly, but any change lasted less than an hour.  A typical comment:  "I wonder if the tingling made it seem like something was happening when it wasn't."

P.S. Clinique's 30% plumper fattened lips a bit more than some of the others, but the change was barely visible.

I guess to have plumper lips we have to be big girls and opt for more extreme measures. 

Comments

[ms. distressedDERMA]

I've tried several lip plumpers and the best one for the price ($12)was Dr. Wexler's. The key thing to remember with lip plumpers is that they are temporary - none of them promise permanent results.

I've also had collagen injected into my upper lip (OUCH!!!) and it only lasted about six months. The cost was almost $200. So even professional treatments lack permanent results. My cosmetic surgeon recommended a more permanent solution but it costs several thousand dollars. For now I am more than perfectly happy with a less painful and less expensive alternative.

ms. distressedDERMA